I Am
by RyukoVulpix
Summary: Black hearted evil, brave hearted hero. But who is he? Who is Shadow? A single, simple question... with many complicated answers. Contains spoilers for Shadow the Hedgehog.


**I Am**

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_Who is Shadow the Hedgehog?_

He was created upon the Space Colony ARK over fifty years ago, the culmination of the technology of that time.

He is the final result of the infamous "Project Shadow," the search for the ultimate being.

He is said to be immortal, ageless, and immune to all diseases known to mankind.

He is the outcome of an almost Faustian collaboration, a partnership that would eventually lead to the premature deaths of both his creators.

He is colored black, like death, and red, like freshly spilled blood, the colors of the race that gave him life.

His eyes burn that same shade of red, an unnatural color that warns of his unnatural being.

His spikes turn up at the ends, like a devil's horns, hinting at the potential monster that lurks inside him.

He is merely a small hedgehog in appearance... but his appearance belies his abilities, his strength.

And above all, he is the Ultimate Life Form, a creature gifted with the wonderful, terrible powers of Chaos.

_This is __**what**__ he is._

_But, he is more._

He is all-powerful, exercising control over all of the dimensions, space and time alike.

He is the incarnation of a long-forgotten god, the 'god of destruction' of an ancient people.

He was the intended servant and weapon of a ruthless alien leader, set on imposing 'order' on humanity, no matter how bloody that 'order' may have been.

He carries the blood of that leader, a truth he did not want to face.

And, he was the last hope of one man, a scientist, a grandfather, who wished only to improve the state of the world around him, who wished to give life to his ailing grandchild... who wished to give her a chance to wish, too.

_But still, there is more._

He was born perfect and pure.

His mind and soul were created blank, ready to become whatever his masters wished of him.

He is a bane to some, a blessing to many others.

He is humanity's greatest hope, yet could doubtless become its greatest despair, if he saw fit.

His mind may control our fates; with his uncontested strength, he could choose to save the world, or utterly annihilate it and all its inhabitants.

He is a shadow of everything that lives, a creature that perhaps should never have been created at all.

Yet, he searches for where he may fit into the world, because he knows that his life has taken too many sacrifices for it to be cast away so easily.

_This is __**what**__ he is._

_But there is still more._

_Beyond what he was created to be, beyond what he was intended to be... there lies the truth about who he is._

_And this is what truly makes him terrible._

For he is free.

He is free, the reason for his birth accomplished, his life ahead of him.

His mind and heart are scarred from too much tragedy and sorrow... for though the chains may have gone, the wounds still remain, red and brown blood having stained the once white purity of his mind.

He knows what it is to feel loss, to lose somebody, to lose himself.

He recalls what it is like to have power, immense power, so that he is the strongest life in existence.

He well remembers what it is like to feel only hatred for all life, hatred for the world, and a burning wish for it all to be destroyed.

He knows what it is to feel complete, hopeless doubt, to wonder if his identity, the one thing left that he might cling to, was in fact not his own.

He shuts out the warmth of others, knowing only that to love is to feel pain, not yet ready to open his heart.

He is Chaos embodied, the slightest shift in his path exercising extreme change over his distant future.

All that determines his movements is the unknown within him, the part of a soul that so few people can understand.

_Nothing can stop him._

_Those who believe they can, are wrong._

_Those who ignore the warnings, die._

But most impressively, the one known as Shadow the Hedgehog is a walking paradox.

He is a perfect being, but a wretched being.

He is feared by many, yet loved by the same.

He is destructive, if he wishes to be, but protective if he so desires.

Time moves on forever, and yet it remains still, all at once, all for him.

His world is black and white, but in the same manner, all of it is shaded gray.

Good and evil mean nothing to him...

"Black-hearted evil, brave-hearted hero"?

In his world, there is no difference.

_And in the end, he is controlled by none._

_All of this, is Shadow the Hedgehog._

_This is __**what**__ he is._

_This is __**who**__ he is._

_This... is __**who I am.**_


End file.
